Elena Sini: Priority Number One

Show Notes

On Episode 8 of The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare, Meg is joined by Elena Sini, Group CIO of GVM Care & Research in Milan, Italy. 

The two discuss Elena’s background as CIO in both the public and private sectors, her role in founding the HIMSS Italian Community, the security and privacy of health data, the power of building a personal and professional network, teaching healthcare IT in an ever-changing world, and more. 

About Elena Sini:

Elena Sini holds 20 years of experience acquired from top-tiered Italian public and private healthcare providers, including the IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori and Instituto Clinico Humanitas. Since 2019, Elena has served as Group CIO at GVM Care & Research, one of the leading private Italian healthcare groups.

Elena is a member of the HIMSS Board of Directors and of the HIMSS EMEA Advisory Board. She is also the founder and committee member of the HIMSS Italian Community.

Elena has been an adjunct professor since 2003 and a guest lecturer at prominent Italian Universities. She is co-author of several publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been awarded for implementing digital innovation projects in healthcare in Italy and by European bodies.

Prior to joining health IT, Elena held research roles in the media and television broadcasting industry with the RAI Research Centre and Canal+ Group.

She holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Pisa, and has completed post-graduate courses at the MIP - School of Management - Politecnico di Milano.

LinkedIn

Further Reading:

GVM Care & Research

HIMSS Europe

HIMSS Italian Community

Instituto Clinico Humanitas

European Union Agency for Cybersecurity

Episode Credits: 

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company. 

Hosted by Meg Escobosa. 

Produced, edited, engineered, and mixed by Calvin Marty. 

Theme music composed and performed by Calvin Marty. 

Intro and outro voiced by John Parsons. 

©2022 The Krinsky Company

Creators & Guests

Host

Meg Escobosa

Meg Escobosa has 15 years of innovation consulting experience, focusing on the unique challenges of healthcare since 2012. For The Krinsky Company, Meg leads client engagements overseeing advisory board design, creation and management. She also leads industry research, expert recruitment and trend analysis to support corporate innovation initiatives centered on the future of healthcare. Her background in innovation and strategy consulting began at IdeaScope Associates where she was involved all aspects of strategic innovation initiatives including understanding the voice of the customer, industry research and aligning the executive team to invest in promising strategic growth opportunities. Meg received her BA in Latin American Studies from Trinity College in Hartford and her MBA in sustainable management from the pioneering Master’s degree program, Presidio Graduate School. She is also on the board of a non-profit foundation focused on researching and developing technology to support a sustainable society. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Producer

Calvin Marty

A man of many hats, Calvin Marty is a Podcast Producer, Editor, Engineer, Voice Actor, Actor, Composer, Singer/Songwriter, Musician, and Tennis Enthusiast. Calvin produces, engineers, edits, mixes, and scores The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare. Calvin is also the creator of the 2020 podcast, irRegular People, among others. Find his music under the names Calvin Marty, Billy Dubbs, Nature Show, and The Sunken Ship. Over his long career as an actor, Calvin's has voiced many Radio and TV commercials for a wide-range of companies and products and has appeared in small on-camera roles on shows such as Chicago Fire and Empire.

What is The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare?

The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a podcast featuring exceptional women making an impact in healthcare today. We celebrate our guests’ accomplishments, setbacks, and the lessons they've learned throughout their careers. We dig into the many healthcare issues we face today and how these innovative leaders are working to solve them. Join host Meg Escobosa in conversation with some of the many brilliant, courageous women on the front lines of the future of health.

Elena Sini: This is one of the biggest challenges health systems have faced, especially during this pandemic. Healthcare facilities have become the top target for cybersecurity attacks. We need to understand how to protect the personal data of the patients and privacy and security have to be our absolute priority. Having served in the European Governing Council and now in the HIMSS Board of Directors, it’s essential to be engaged in this kind of committees, networks because we can really learn a lot from what’s happening in different countries and in different industries.

ANNCR: You're listening to The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare, a podcast, celebrating courage, perseverance, creativity, and vision in the pursuit of healthcare innovation. Join host Meg Escobosa in conversation with some of the most inspiring and forward-thinking women working in healthcare today. Meg goes behind the scenes to uncover previously untold stories of struggle and success in a notoriously complex and highly-regulated industry. 
As the worlds of healthcare and technology continue to converge, and as women take on increasingly more important roles in both, these are timely tales that deserve to be told. And now, here's your host, Meg Escobosa.


Meg Escobosa: Welcome back to The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare. I'm your host, Meg Escobosa. This month on the podcast, we're celebrating International Women's Day, which lands on March 8th, which means we're releasing four episodes this month. Today, we're very fortunate to be speaking with Elena Sini. She's Group CIO at GVM Care and Research in Milan, Italy. Buonasera, Elena. I'm so happy to be speaking with you today.

Elena Sini: Buonasera, Meg. It's a pleasure to be with you today.

Meg Escobosa: You can see I'm sneaking in just the wee bit of Italian that I know.
So I'm showing off, showing off for the listeners.

Elena Sini: I really love that. Thank you so much.

Meg Escobosa: We're very privileged to get this opportunity to talk with you. You are a sought-after CIO in Europe, and you've got a lot of experience and you're involved in a lot of organizations. What would be nice is to hear kind of your own journey to your current role. How did you get here and, you know, just in a summary, hit some of the highlights of your career. How did you get to your role today?

Elena Sini: Thank you, Meg. It's really my pleasure. Thanks for having me here today. I'm a CIO. I have been, you know, working as a CIO for over 20 years now and, you know, most of these 20 years having been spent among Italian top-tiered public and private healthcare providers. And I have a background in telecommunication engineering. So I have a master of science and communication engineering. So I started my career in a completely different industry, but since the year 2000, I have been working as CIO in healthcare.

I'm quite involved with HIMSS. I'm a member of the HIMSS Board of Directors, and HIMSS EMEA Advisory Board, I also founded the HIMSS Italian community. During my career, I have been involved in various committees established by national and regional healthcare bodies. I've been working with ENISA, which is a European Union agency for cybersecurity.

Just providing advice to drafting of the European Union cyber guidelines for healthcare, so for the healthcare sector. I also work as an adjunct professor since 2003, and have been invited from most relevant healthcare advancing Europe and so I'm happy I can rely on a quite international network of people. And learned a lot meeting great people and really, you know, brilliant minds in healthcare. So I'm a privileged person. I work in this interesting environment, such as healthcare, and especially these days.

Meg Escobosa: Wow, yes. Oh my gosh. There are so many possibilities of where we could take the conversation. One thing that I wanted to inquire about you may or may not be able to talk about it here, but we had to reschedule this call because you had a meeting with the head of your organization and the Italian health minister. And I'm just curious, is that something you can tell us about? You know, some big initiative that you guys are working on or is there anything you can share?

Elena Sini: What can I share with you is mostly related to what we do as HIMSS in Italy. We are part of this healthcare environment in Italy, being a private provider or public provider. What's relevant is that you can contribute to this discussion. So what we are doing right now, this is something that I'm really committed to. It's overcoming the disparities; we have significant that we face everyday. I work for GVM. We said that it's a pretty big Italian healthcare group that runs healthcare facilities there are almost 28 in 10 Italian regions. So, you know, what we face every day is, you know, the struggle to integrate GVM’s patient health data, with the different information systems of the Italian regions.

You have to understand that in Italy, there are many, you know, electronic health records of each region. So, you know, having operations in so many regions, but just been simply that you have to integrate your data, and this is happening in a context in Italy where, you know, the market is also very fragmented.

We have local suppliers that during the last year have implemented the hospital information systems, most of the time in a pretty customized way. So there is a strong need of, you know, adoption of interoperability to standards. So from this perspective, being GVM’s CIO, and being also a member of the HIMSS Italian community, we published a position paper on the inefficiencies of the regional electronic health records.
And so these papers brought us to start a discussion with many ministries of innovation health. We are just hoping to give a meaningful contribution to the plan that Italy has drafted because it's now with the European, next generation EU fans of the country, somehow defining a national plan for recovery and resilience. And so with this plan, Italy commits to make a significant step up in its virtual health capabilities. So as a community, as private healthcare providers, we just want, you know, to be able to support this plan, to really, you know, make the difference because, you know, the digital challenges ahead of us are huge, and the timing is crucial.

Meg Escobosa: And so you are really in a position of influence. Are you able to collaborate with the other private providers in Italy to come up with the standards, or are you making a recommendation to the health minister and they're navigating with all the other organizations?

Elena Sini: This specific task we've been collaborating with the industry, with other research centers or other institutions, not specifically with other healthcare providers.
But as I said, the HIMSS Italian communities, you know, it's quite relevant right now. It's pretty committed and, you know, active community in the country. So somehow this work was, you know, work that we carried on with specific organizations, but at the same time, the result is all for the community to benefit.

I was also for nine years, you know, also the CIO of another relevant, private health care provider, Humanitas. Somehow, you know, I've had these experiences in two of the largest healthcare, Italian, private providers, and also have a background from the public. You know, I had been the CIO of a public institution for 10 years.

I'm also a member of the community having worked for so long in healthcare in Italy. So you have, you know, a pretty wide network of people that can really help in and trying to achieve these kinds of goals. So it's a collaborative approach and I'm proud of that fact that no matter if you are from the industry part, if you are from a healthcare provider, you’re from a research center from university. There's a lot of collaboration with the Polytechnic University (Politecnico di Milano). Doesn't matter where you are from now, what matters most is the fact that we all committed to you. As I said before, to really know, to really make an impact. This is the momentum as I said, the timing is right. If we can help, we'd love to.

Meg Escobosa: That was great. And I'm curious, also, such an interesting trajectory from starting in telecom engineering and then shifting to health information technology. Can you just describe what caused you to make that shift?

Elena Sini: Probably, as I said, the network, the people you happen to meet in your professional life, actually, this is somehow, you know, a funny story, how I got into healthcare, because as you said, you know, I have a master of science in telecommunication engineering. So I started my career at the RAI. RAI is the national public broadcasting company. And once a former CEO of the inertia of the RAI joined a Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, which is a national cancer institute. This guy, his name is Gianni Locatelli. And I consider him a mentor to me. This person, you know, when appointed to be the CEO of the National Cancer Institute, he was looking for a young engineer that might be up to taking on the role of CIO. And so being the former CEO of the RAI, he reached out to the RAI Research Center HR department, and asked for, you know, CVs of young engineers. He valued the experience in imaging and telecommunications and mostly valued the RAI research center’s, ability to train and shape professionals.

So they have this great habit of keeping track of their own staff, a sort of alumni of the right research center. So you have to consider that back then, this was one of the leading research centers, Europe and globally leading in on defining standards and video technology such as impact. So I received this phone call. I was working actually with a major French, medium broadcasting company. I was in Helsinki, I remember, so clearly. So I received this phone call from Locatelli’s assistant and she started just saying, “Hi, this is the National Cancer Institute,” so I immediately started worrying that someone in my family might have gotten sick, you know.

I didn't get at first why they were calling me. And I still don’t understand since I hadn't applied for any of the positions. Yeah, I didn't even know they have my number. You know, there was no Linkedin back then in the year 2000. So I was aware of who Gianni Locatelli was. Anyways, I did an interview. I was fascinated by Locatelli’s vision and passion.
He was committed to making a difference in patients’ lives. So I took a leap and started working at Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori for 10 years as CIO. So unfortunately only two of those years, along with Gianni Locatelli as CEO. But we've kept in touch. He's actually my father's age and we still see each other from time to time. And I always give him a call and his advice has always been essential to me in all these past years.

Meg Escobosa: Wow. That is amazing. And can you describe a little bit more about what he is like and what his influence has meant to you and what you've learned from him?

Elena Sini: I mostly learned how to be myself, you know, in the role that was taking a CIO, you know, I was a young woman back then being a young woman somehow affected my career in a positive way because you know, no one was really expecting me to succeed as CIO.

I was coming from a completely different industry with a very specific technical background, not a background in management. So when I became CIO, I replaced a 60-something man, a former IBM executive. So the typical CIO. This man, Locatelli, actually encouraged me to take this role. He had so much trust. He believed I was up to it and so he made me understand that, you know, passion and commitment - they were important as well as, you know, skills acquired during so many years of experience. I was young, but at the same time was passionate. I was resilient and very, very committed.

He had so much trust in me. In this way he really helped me achieve my goals and even in the first couple of years that we worked together. He was smart enough to also hire an advisor, you know, a person with so much experience. He is also one of my other mentors. Unfortunately, he recently died and this person who was able to shape me as a professional, at the same time to let me even, you know, make my mistakes, you know, and learn from them. So I have these two people, you know. I was very young back then and they really trained me. So I am most grateful, the greatest experience I had with both of them. And the funny thing is that we became friends and we kept in touch for all these years.

We'll see each other from time to time and we are still very close as I said, one of them, whose name is Giuseppe Secchiotti; unfortunately, he died last year. But apart from that, I’ve been so lucky to have these kinds of people and the possibility to work with them really shaped the professional I am today.

Meg Escobosa: Did either one of them give you some unexpected advice, like to the uninitiated in the role of CIO, we wouldn't appreciate the importance of this advice, or is there any advice that you just think was super inspiring and helpful to you?

Elena Sini: I think the most relevant advice was just to be myself, nurture my enthusiasm because I was that kind of person. The other most relevant advice, which could be pretty obvious, but at the beginning of my career, I really didn't have this understanding to really be able to build your own network and to rely on it. At the beginning, especially when you are so focused on achieving a goal and, you know, implementing some project, you tend to be very focused on what you're doing on a daily basis. So you don't take enough time to share experiences with others to build your network, as I said. So this was also something that was very, very important for me at the beginning of my professional experience.

You have to understand, like I said, it was the early years, 2000. So it was 20 years ago. So even ways to connect with people, you had to physically go to an event, you know, you had to interact in a very different kind of way. So the ability to have your own network was relevant. Challenge yourself, constantly try and change your perspectives, all these kinds of things, which are very relevant because you have to somehow gain confidence in yourself. And this as a woman it's not so easy to do, you know?

Meg Escobosa: I know exactly. Did you do anything to challenge yourself? What might you have tried that was a stretch for yourself?

Elena Sini: I just consider the fact, you know, that after 10 years at the National Cancer Institute, you know, I decided to actually take the opportunity to go to work for the private organization. Working for the public could be a lifetime job. There are so many challenges working for a public institution, but at the same time, people really rarely tend to go somewhere else. So somehow I'm always looking to gain more experience, just love to have more challenges to put myself, you know, in a more competitive scenario. So it's something that, you know, I really value.

Meg Escobosa: What would you say is an example where you're, I mean, has your resilience ever been tested?

Elena Sini: Public institutions in Italy can be a quite complex working environment because it's highly regulated. You know, you're always struggling with lack of funding or adequate resources, and the CEOs are appointed by political parties.

Now it could be the minister of health of the regional government, and this implies that the political instability that characterizes the Italian governments also directly affects the management of public institutions, like hospitals and research centers. So you have to be flexible and resilient now in order to be able to navigate this ever-changing scenario. And often, CEOs don't last long enough to make an impact. So, when I was there, I happened to work with six different CEOs in 10 years. So this was challenging because every CEO, obviously they wanted to assess what you are doing, where we are headed, what is the IT strategy. So every time, you had to let them understand what you're doing and why.

So many, obviously also financial resources involved and they always tend to be, “okay, let's stop for now. And then we'll have to decide.” So I think I was pretty resilient because in all those years I changed so many CEOs and that was always very confirmed as a CIO to navigate in a very complex scenario. And so I'm most grateful for the experience.

Meg Escobosa: Well, it does sound like a challenging environment when you are shifting new CEOs every year, every other year, that's an incredible pace to keep up with the whims of the political times. You have a really special perspective because you have worked both in public and private and in research. And of course in a non-healthcare setting. Can you kind of share what you observe as the key differences, just for those of us who might be considering careers in healthcare that are either in the public sector or in the private sector? Can you just describe some of the key differences between those types of organizations from your experience in Italy?

Elena Sini: Yeah. I was lucky enough to have worked for a public institution, which is one of the leading public institutions in the country. So, you know, it's the best example of a public institution and so it's really rewarding from a personal point-of-view and also professional point-of-view. Public institution, for example, it was a great experience. I had the opportunity to understand how to apply for funding. It was really an interesting journey. At the same time, you know, as I said before, it’s somehow too regulated in context. There are so many regulations you have to apply.

And so sometimes it takes too much time to be able to implement, you know, the project you're leading in a reasonable amount of time, private institutions are more flexible. Some let's say, you know, the way the decisions are made, it's easier. They are quicker, more active. And so. Somehow you are more able to make the difference in a private institution.

So I have been lucky. I worked with so many, you know, inspiring people. I'm so grateful for all the years I spent in the public institution. I have to say it's a little bit more challenging.

Meg Escobosa: It seems like great opportunities have come to you, but you seem ready for them. Even if you don't feel ready, you're willing to take them on to take that challenge. Can you describe a little bit more about what you're teaching, where are you teaching and what is that experience like?

Elena Sini: You have to understand that I started working in IT in 2000 and back then in Italy, IT wasn't even considered a strategic department within the organization. So I was lucky enough because Locatelli hired me in order to define this IT department. And it was, did report to him. That time, usually IT was, you know, just more or less people who would take care of your PC and printers. You know, there wasn't even a strategic fashion within the organization.

So I started in 2003 with the University of Castellanza, because I just wanted to make doctors, C-levels within the hospitals aware of the strategic role of information technologies in a healthcare organization. And then I have been working with the Polytechnic University (Politecnico di Milano), the Cattolica University in Rome (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore).

So mostly for a masters and also with Humanitas, we had this course for doctors in the third year, which was called an ICT for medicine. So the idea was to get students who were obviously in the path of becoming doctors, all that is necessary to understand the role of IT in a hospital. So, it was nice and I actually have been doing this you know, for such a long time. It’s something that I really appreciate because it's not only an opportunity to share what you're doing, but at the same time, you know, have a lot of feedback and you share experiences. So it's really wonderful.

I have also had the opportunity to follow many thesis projects. Many people had to, let’s say, [do] the final project work and they just wanted to do it with me. So I somehow, you know, kept all these contacts. And this is something that I really care about. You know, it's something that I’m simply sharing what I'm doing, what I think is relevant in healthcare nowadays, but also having the direct feedback from people on the ground, like myself, but actually working in different organizations. So it's pretty nice and interesting.

Meg Escobosa: There is definitely a theme in your life, keeping those relationships and maintaining and giving back. I'm hearing that. Yes. I also am fascinated - the course that you teach, I imagine you could just put it on autopilot and teach the same thing every year, given the 20 years we've just gone through in IT and healthcare. So can you describe some of those changes that you've witnessed and had to kind of revamp your course around? What are the most significant advancements in health IT over these 20 years that you've had to kind of adapt to and include in your course?

Elena Sini: This is funny now because at the beginning, you know, it was easier somehow not you were there just saying how IT is rather than how can you rely on digital technologies, how digital can technology can enable change and all of this, you know, it was somehow, you know, let's say top-down, I don't know how to say anyway, it was, you know, just sharing all the possibilities now to understand the strategic role of the IT.

And during the last few years, talking to these young students I had to completely change the way I also interact with them because at the beginning I explained why this is so relevant. And now these people, these young students just say to me, “Why aren’t digital technologies aren't mature enough in healthcare? Because we know they come from their own experience as the consumer, you know? So the question is to you professor, “Why? Explain to me, why?”

They were right. So having to let them understand the complexity of the healthcare industry, which is not like any other industry.

Meg Escobosa: What have you learned from teaching?

Elena Sini: I learned to understand myself, my skills better somehow. When you have to share with somebody, what you've learned, what you believe is strategic, your insight on the job you are doing every day. I think it's also a way of learning, understanding a little bit more about yourself and this helps something. This is something I'm always focused on. You know, we are evolving as a person, as a professional. I think this is what I've learned.

Meg Escobosa: And you know, in the field of health IT, I know you're so involved in the cyber security issue. Maybe you could talk a little bit about that particular issue. Like what do you see as the biggest threats to cybersecurity and health IT security and how are the Europeans addressing it? Maybe you could share just from that perspective.

Elena Sini: First to cybersecurity, this is one of the biggest challenges health systems have faced. Especially during this pandemic healthcare facilities have become the top target for cyber security attacks. It's not easy because what we need to understand how to protect the personal data of the patients and privacy and security have to be at the top of the agenda about our absolute priority. But at same time, you know, we haven't invested enough during the last few years, you know, it wasn't so, so crucial for health care facilities. And so this is definitely one of the top priorities I think we have to face right now. And this is the reason why also, as a professional, I was so interested in joining, this initiative, because as I said, we can share a lot in our appearances.
We can learn a lot from what's happening in other industries. It's essential to be engaged in these kinds of communities and networks, because we can really learn a lot from what's happening and different contexts in different industries. And obviously we have to tackle data related to the health of the people, the citizens. So it's a huge responsibility. And in the past it has also suffered from a lack of funding.

I'm most grateful to the GDPR. I don't know if you're familiar with it. It's a European regulation of data privacy, I think because it's really valuable too. So, you know, raise the awareness and not only are people in healthcare, but also governments and institutions. So this is, I think, probably the biggest challenge you have to face right now. So I'm mostly interested in what's going to be next. And also, I think this is a topic we should, that should be addressed, you know, from, you know, a national point of view.
So far many hospitals, you know, everyone is acting on their own. Recently, in Italy, a new agency has been established in order to address these kind of topics are mostly, I'm really happy about it because this is something that should be addressed from a national point of view, not regional, not on the single hospital. So it is a real challenge. Yeah.

Meg Escobosa: Well on the GDPR, would you mind just giving a little brief explainer for anyone that may not be familiar with this regulation?

Elena Sini: It's a framework of regulation that has been, you know, defined by the European European commission. It was about 2018. So it has been in place for four years now. What's more relevant about the GDPR, it doesn't say exactly how to do things, but it gives you all the tools in order to understand the level of you’re facing in your own organization and, the principle to adapt to. So it gives you a lot of flexibility. So in the previous regulations where national level relations, and this is a European regulation, it is not Italian it's for all of Europe. And so our previous revelation was most focused on something like, let's say a to-do list. Now you have to do this, this and that. Technology and such, it’s continuously evolving. So it's very difficult to be able to know to address all the technical issues that you may have at the moment.

And the GDPR gives you more or overall principles and this principle can apply to any kind of situation. So it also defines another important thing, which is, you know, the accountability of the person who is in charge of the single organization. So the shift is now the responsibility from the IT to the general manager, the CEO.

So these people have to understand the level of risk they are facing in managing the data of their patients, so the customers. This gives more awareness to the organization, what actually are the challenges they are facing in criminal cyber security. It was really a great opportunity to act as a European. So not from every single country. And you can really work on a program in order to address all the challenges you face within your organization. Relying on the principle of the GDPR.

Meg Escobosa: This is the biggest threat that's facing health IT, and it's just increasing over the last few years. Where do you think the weakest link in the protection is right now? And what do you think can be done and should be done? Like where's innovation happening to enable better cyber security?

Elena Sini: Yeah, I can obviously talk about Italy. What I see, you know, all these new hospitals have these data centers, are that they are mostly on-premise data centers. So Italian hospitals, you know, during all their, let's say 15, 20 years, you know, just implemented electronic health records or EMR. And they used to have all the service and the data on-premises there within their facility. So inevitably this is not, this is open to some security threats. And so I think the challenge that we all see is actually how much the data is really secure within our systems, you know, in our hospitals.

Something that Italy is addressing with this national plan for recovery and resilience is also, for example, to adopt a cloud infrastructure that could be available for public institutions to store data in a safe and more secure way, you know, with much more security. And so we have the technology. So this is always not a matter of technology. It's a matter of having an overall governance of the security of health data within the country. So it's going to be a shift from on-premise solutions to clouds and it’s not simple, this transition from on premises and to the cloud. And that is something that we should be able to, we should look forward to. At least this is my opinion.

Meg Escobosa: Maybe you could describe a little bit about the workforce, the skillset that's needed for this new kind of future that we have, where data is stored on in the cloud. And the security is wrapped around it from there. What kind of skills do you think the next generation should really be good at, at this point?

Elena Sini: You address a relevant topic. There are also a lack of skills in terms of security officers. So it's very rare, really rare to find, within the IT departments of Italian hospitals or healthcare groups, a chief security officer. So this is a road that, you know, it's very difficult to find people who actually act in this role, and so this is one of the most relevant problems that I see right now.

Meg Escobosa: And when you find people with security backgrounds, what field are they coming from? What industry?

Elena Sini: Most come from telco, there's a lot of banking, you know, industries that are somehow more mature, in terms of security, and they just had to face this problem a few years ago. At the same time, healthcare is such a different context. So, you know, you have to be able to attract the right people. At the same time, I think you should be able to, if not hire the right person in order to be a CSO, but at the same time, to be able to partner with industry in order to let them support you with the best technology, the best cares, and you know, the competence you may need within your organization.

This is a pretty challenging situation right now. It's a matter of lack of skills and at the same time, every hospital has a different infrastructure, different information systems. The market is very fragmented, even the EMR solutions. And so every software, the system just poses different threats. Now, I think that with the certification of EMR as a medical device we are going in the right direction, but at the same time it's still a long journey. It is something that we don't see happening so soon, unfortunately. We'll still need time.

Meg Escobosa: What innovation or accomplishment in healthcare are you most proud of? If you can summarize all the millions of ways you've contributed.

Elena Sini: Probably the thing I'm most proud of is the fact that I founded the HIMSS Italian community. I joined HIMSS in 2016 and having served in the European Governing Council and now on the HIMSS Board of Directors, you know, the fact that in my country, but it wasn't a chapter community, I felt it was such a missed opportunity. The chance and the need to do so - to a brilliant and smart woman, she's Christina Rosen. And she was a vice-president of HIMSS. Actually, she was leading all the European operations and Christina helped me along the way.

She was really essential in what we were able to achieve. So now we have a community, which is pretty much active and engaged. And so I'm very proud of our community and what we are doing already. Some of the initiatives we are actually doing in Italy. Christina, for sure, is a great woman. Like any other great women, she helped other great women to create something. So this was also an opportunity for us to build a community. It was and still is a nice journey. And so I'm proud of that.

Meg Escobosa: Did you face any barriers to building this community? Was there anyone who resisted and thought we don't need a separate Italian HIMSS community?

Elena Sini: The barriers we had to face in the beginning were most related to the fact that people in Italy weren't familiar with HIMSS. So we had also to explain who HIMSS was, what was the value of building a community? At the beginning, people were saying, “Okay, but we are in Italy. We are a totally different market. We are using different, you know, for example, vendors for the EMR. So how can we share experiences with professionals, with colleagues which work in different parts? In the US, they have a different healthcare system.”

So, you know, people are tactical about the fact that this kind of collaboration could be useful for them. The funny thing is that just because we have to address these barriers at the very beginning, actually we understood the way we had to deliver the message, you know, the way we had to present this community to the Italian colleagues.

Right now what we see in the country is the opposite problem. So many people who are asking us for advice, have a place where we can share, find, you know, a peer who's an expert on this and that we are doing a lot of work on, for example, in cybersecurity and the regulation to understand and share one what's next for us.

So it's funny because you see that the initial barriers actually helped us to address the message we were delivering. And now the communities are really relevant and many people are looking for, you know, the community in order to help each other.

And we were able to understand the real value of the community during the pandemic, because Italy was the first country hit in Europe, with the pandemic. And so we had the idea to launch these webinars that actually, CEOs, but also CMOs, doctors, head of anesthesia, all the people who were really in the wards everyday facing the challenge of the pandemic; we shared best practices, what they've learned, how to address and how to, let's say change your organization, know that to be able to adapt to the surge of patients and everyday come to your hospital. And so these webinars were most useful. There was also a platform we made available for clinical engineers, for example. So we had so many ICU department units were set up in a matter of days. We were the common space where people have these conversations going and it was so nice because after that, as HIMSS, we also did a webinar with me and Henning Schneider, who is also a HIMSS board member.

And we had Italy and Germany sharing experiences. And it turned out to be one of the most-viewed webinars HIMSS had. And this is exactly what I think the community is for. So this is what we are doing right now, trying to address what's most needed in our country and at the same time, open up discussions and collaboration. Also, we had European and non-European countries so it was really interesting, and so I really loved that.

Meg Escobosa: What words of wisdom can you offer the next generation? You know, who might be just in the earlier stages of their career, considering a path, either in health IT or healthcare in general? What would you say to them

Elena Sini: I would just say you have to nurture your passion. This passion will drive you through all the hard times, and you obviously are going to face during your professional experience. As I said, build your network and rely on it. Try and aim to work with the most inspiring and skilled people. And challenge yourself constantly. You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself is so relevant, new projects, new responsibilities. There are so many opportunities out there, just grab it. So this is my advice.

Meg Escobosa: When you think of innovation, what comes to mind? What do you think about?

Elena Sini: Innovation. I think somehow, I don't know if you agree on it. I have the feeling that innovation has become a bit of a buzzword, you know? And so I don't really know how to define innovation. So innovation to me truly applies when you address a real challenge. The result is real added value to the patient. So I think this is the most important thing in healthcare. So if you are really able to innovate, if you really know, bring value to the patient.

Meg Escobosa: Wonderful. And what do you think some of the most exciting innovations in healthcare are today?

Elena Sini: The ones that may have the ability to understand health data in a profound and new way.

Meg Escobosa: And what are some of the most essential ingredients in healthcare innovation?

Elena Sini: I’d say people - people with the right mindset and the right attitude.

Meg Escobosa: Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time with me and sharing your story with our audience.

Elena Sini: Thank you, Meg. Thank you. Really. Thank you for having me.

Meg Escobosa: And thank you to our listeners for joining us today. If you enjoy our show, please consider leaving a rating and review wherever you listen. It helps us reach new listeners. And if you know other folks who might enjoy it, please spread the word. To find out more about The Krinsky Company. Check out our website. See you next time. 


ANNCR: Thank you for listening to The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare. This podcast was produced, engineered, edited, and scored by Calvin Marty. Please take a moment to subscribe via your favorite streaming service. The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare is a production of The Krinsky Company, a growth strategy and healthcare innovation consultancy. 
Visit us on the web at www.thekrinskyco.com.